The Biggest Summer Shoe Trend Is a Mesh Ballet Flat

There was a girl in my high school who came to school—by choice—barefoot every day. And I didn’t go to school in the country. This was in the Bronx, and the closest thing we had to nature was a soccer field of Astroturf. (One day during sophomore year, an abandoned machete was found at the center line with no explanation.)

I can picture this girl vividly, standing in our concrete courtyard in a pair of faded denim shorts that hung low off her hip bones, her feet bare in a way that, while deeply concerning, made her look undeniably cool. She seemed to exist in a world where you didn’t need shoes as everyday armor—where clothes alone were enough to tackle the day.

I think about her when my flip-flop gets caught in the crack of a city sidewalk and my exposed heel touches the pavement, or when I put on an outfit I find impossible to style with shoes. And I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately, wondering how she is and what she thinks about the current mesh shoe phenomenon.

A model from Alaïa’s fall 2023 ready-to-wear collection wearing mesh shoes

Mesh shoes—the kind that look like socks made from Saran Wrap—are everywhere. Sandy Liang reimagined her popular Mary Jane in mesh (available in black or pink), announcing the new style with an Instagram pic of one on her left foot, her blackberry pedicure visible within the shoe’s square toe. The Row makes a pair that engulfs the foot entirely, like a sleek no-show sock finally getting its moment in the sun. Christopher Esber’s nearly sold-out Minette flat is built like a net, capturing the toes in a fit of crystal embellishments. Bottega Veneta’s iteration looks like a pair of fishnet stockings, every inch above the ankle neatly snipped off. Alaïa’s are also made of fishnet, with a buckled strap wrapped across the top, and they’re every bit as impossible to find as their studded sisters.

All of these shoes are designed to house our toes while still putting them on display. Under Liang’s post, which garnered over 20,000 likes, commenters asked: “Will your feet sweat?” Others responded that no, the shoes were built for ventilation. YouTuber Quenlin Blackwell wrote, “It’s a DAWG show. i’m so excited.”

In the last two years, Margiela’s split-toe Tabi went from fringe to mainstream. During Fashion Week last September, the Row put models in lace cocktail dresses and long leather opera gloves with a simple pair of leather thong flip-flops. At Miu Miu’s most recent show, the stretch Nappa thong boot made waves for being weird and potentially ushering in the unexpected return of the peep-toe boot. Even as “no free feet pics” jokes take over the internet, we seem to have slowly welcomed exactly that on our Instagram feeds. Visible toes aren’t just everywhere. They’re in.

But unlike the Tabi or the flip-flop, mesh shoes aren’t a trend that has ebbed and flowed before. Aside from an appearance on the Row’s runway in 2019, they feel like a new creation that could have come to exist only in 2023, where toe acceptance is at an all-time high.

A pair of Christopher Esber’s popular Minette flats, which envelop the foot like a sparkling fishnet

Whenever anyone asked the girl in my high school why she went barefoot, she said it made her feel closer to the earth—more grounded. I always found this funny because to me, the absence of shoes made her look less tethered to the world we live in. When she stood at lunch on the concrete with her skin to the stone, she seemed like a milkmaid in a Peter Paul Rubens landscape painting.

That same feeling is distilled in these new mesh shoes, and it’s paramount to their appeal. They’re almost biblical, making the wearer appear ethereal, as if they don’t need something that protects them from the ground below because they already float above it.

A pair of Sandy Liang’s MJ mesh flats in black, which sold out shortly after launch

There’s also a freaky sexiness to the shoe that’s undeniable. It’s not the type of skin we’re used to seeing exposed in that way—covered, but just slightly, as if there's something naughty about it. But in recent months, designers like Rick Owens and Dilara Findikoglu have proven there is no singular way to be beautiful or sexy, and that often the most sensual thing of all is being assured in one’s otherness.

Seeing toes peek through mesh or fishnet is delicate and a little weird. But the trend is also liberating, freeing women from the confines of the high-heel pumps we’re used to stuffing our feet into if we want to convey a slinky persona.

When I got a notification that Sandy Liang had dropped her mesh Mary Jane flats, I rushed to buy a pair in pink. Once they arrived, I slipped my hand into the toe box to see what my painted nails looked like obscured by the thin layer of mesh. Then I slid in my feet, painted with a deep blackberry pedicure reminiscent of Liang’s, and took a walk. At first, I’ll admit, it felt strange—less liberating than I’d imagined. I couldn’t help but feel weird that my toes were playing coy. But then I started to feel coquettish myself, floating down the street, as if my exposed feet were a sexy little secret I couldn’t wait to show off.

Tara Gonzalez is the Senior Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Previously, she was the style writer at InStyle, founding commerce editor at Glamour, and fashion editor at Coveteur.

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